Juan,Looks like you're coming to terms with the Sigma and producing some fine shots. I noticed some banding in your B&Ws; did you try correcting this in SPP? I'm contemplating one of the Merrills for B&W landscapes, but this banding issue could be a deal-breaker; and I thought this problem had been resolved. Thanks.

Juan,Looks like you're coming to terms with the Sigma and producing some fine shots. I noticed some banding in your B&Ws; did you try correcting this in SPP? I'm contemplating one of the Merrills for B&W landscapes, but this banding issue could be a deal-breaker; and I thought this problem had been resolved. Thanks.

Yes, this banding is quite apparent if you open the images in flickr and look at the sky. It's the kind of banding that actually shows more in the print than on the screen. What I wonder is if this is in just your particular camera and you need to get it serviced or if all the DP2M cameras have this?

From what I gather, this is a well-known issue; thus the reason Sigma added a specific "banding" tool in SPP to address the problem. Just wondering if you had used that specific tool, and if so, to what degree of success. I'm probably going to give the Merrill a try; but as I love to shoot skies, banding is not something I can live with.

i've been thinking about this camera. That banding is worrisome especially as I would use this for prints as a final product. What do people think of using this camera for a simple b&w camera for stitching say 2x and 4x stitches. Skies are oftentimes problematic in stitching landscapes in general because of lens vigneting etc. But specifically what about the DP2 its lens and stitching images with sky. Thanks

From what I gather, this is a well-known issue; thus the reason Sigma added a specific "banding" tool in SPP to address the problem. Just wondering if you had used that specific tool, and if so, to what degree of success. I'm probably going to give the Merrill a try; but as I love to shoot skies, banding is not something I can live with.

i've been thinking about this camera. That banding is worrisome especially as I would use this for prints as a final product. What do people think of using this camera for a simple b&w camera for stitching say 2x and 4x stitches. Skies are oftentimes problematic in stitching landscapes in general because of lens vigneting etc. But specifically what about the DP2 its lens and stitching images with sky. Thanks

I did some stitching with the DP2m at base ISO and didn't see any problem.

- I used f4.5-5.6,- I used PTGUI Pro automatic light fall off compensation capability, just like I do with my DSLR lenses. It seems to equalize the skies within less than 1 RGB point, totally seemless to my eyes.

i've been thinking about this camera. That banding is worrisome especially as I would use this for prints as a final product. What do people think of using this camera for a simple b&w camera for stitching say 2x and 4x stitches. Skies are oftentimes problematic in stitching landscapes in general because of lens vigneting etc. But specifically what about the DP2 its lens and stitching images with sky. Thanks

Kirk,

I can't answer your question with a deal of experience as there have been precious few blue sky days in London for some time now. You can get banding with the DP2M that's for sure but it appears to be on a per image basis and in my limited experience isn't as bad as all that. Until I get to the deep blue skies of Spain in a couple of months I can't be sure how it's going to affect me but I'm not too worried. I have bought a circular polariser so I can darken skies in camera, leaving less to do in post. As for vignetting, I don't think that's too bad with the Sigma lens and I have made an Adobe Camera Profile that reduces it anyway. I will be using the DP2M set up vertically for 2-3 shot panos and I'm not expecting too many problems although now and then there many be a lost shot. For it's definition and it's size and weight I love this camera, and if used carefully I have even got very decent results at 1600 ISO, using the new SPP 5.5 monochrome mode and whacking the colour mixer all the way into the blue channel, where noise is drastically reduced, adding grain and Clarity in LR gives a nice "film like" look. What's nice about the camera is that is DOES have limitations.

Maybe I'm a blind old fool, or maybe I don't know what to look for, but I really don't see banding in these images on my MacBook Air screen. I do however see banding and other artifacts in skies all the time on 500PX and elsewhere when folks push too many sliders too far.

Maybe I'm a blind old fool, or maybe I don't know what to look for, but I really don't see banding in these images on my MacBook Air screen. I do however see banding and other artifacts in skies all the time on 500PX and elsewhere when folks push too many sliders too far.

Look for horizontal straight dark lines going through the open sky areas. Helps if you expand the image larger.

I like the shot, Bernard, but I don't think that the file has converted well to b/white. The problem (in my eyes) is that the image looks 'milky' and the whites especially don't look clean. It's something I noticed with my D200 quite often, but haven't with the D700, perhaps because I've made fewer with that camera. I believe that converted colour transparencies make for better black/whites than do digital files.

I like the shot, Bernard, but I don't think that the file has converted well to b/white. The problem (in my eyes) is that the image looks 'milky' and the whites especially don't look clean. It's something I noticed with my D200 quite often, but haven't with the D700, perhaps because I've made fewer with that camera. I believe that converted colour transparencies make for better black/whites than do digital files.

Rob C

I know what you mean, and I believe, in this shot, that the whites were recovered, which is a digital thing as we've been trained to recover highlights, keep texture in everything. I like the shot and the conversion, but I think its nothing a curve or level adjustment wouldn't change.

I guess I am glad I am old and my eyes maybe aging and I do thank you for trying to show where the banding is but I swear I still don't see it and I even put my fly tying glasses on to magnify the image.

I recently had some 16x20 prints made and went over them with a magnifying glass and do not see any banding either on these. Guess I will remain blissfully content about my DP2m images because what I can't see can't bother me. I had some of my friends and family look at your example and my images and they don't see anything either and 2 of them are in their 20's